Emotions, Facultative Adaptation, and the History of Homicide
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5736840 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Randolph Roth (0000-0001-7662-3317, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1529-1546 |
| Publication date | 2014-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The American Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-8762 • E-ISSN: 1937-5239 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ahr/119.5.1529 |
| OpenAlex | W2057067125 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 3 |
IN SOME HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES, HOMICIDES are rare.Rates can drop to 1 per 100,000 persons per year or less, and the chance that a person's life will end in murder (known as the homicide risk) will fall to less than 1 in 1,000, as it has today in Japan and much of Europe.But in other circumstances, rates soar into the tens, hundreds, and even thousands per 100,000 persons per year, and the risk of being murdered over the course of a lifetime can rise to 1 in 50 or worse, as it did for African American men during most of the twentieth century. 1 And within societies, homicide rates are remarkably volatile.They can double or triple or fall by half in five years or less.What can account for such differences across time and space?Why can humans be forbearing and agreeable in one instance and aggressive and confrontational in another?In recent years, historians have turned to social and cultural history for answers.They have focused on inequality, on gender roles, on the ways in which people could command respect in their societies, and on "civilizing processes" that may have encouraged self-control and emotional restraint.Few, however, have looked to biology for complementary explanations of why violence varies so widely.That is understandable.Most scientists prefer controlled experiments and have shied away from the study of human violence across time and space because there are too many variables.Instead, they have studied samples of violent offenders and nonoffenders in particular societies.Their studies have identified neural and endocrinological deficits that increase the likelihood of violent offending, but the incidence of these deficits does not vary widely enough across human populations or rapidly enough over time to account for the stunning variety of homicide rates. 2 Evolutionary biologists, however, are as accustomed as historians to studying variation across time and space and to dealing with a multiplicity of variables, and
Adaptation (eye · Biology · Criminology · Facultative · Homicide · Medical emergency · Poison control · Suicide prevention · Ecology · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Medicine · Neuroscience · Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |